Autonomy And After

Now that IIMs are set to get more freedom to run their affairs, they need to think out of the box to push excellence and make a greater impact.

- Rama Bijapurkar

To appreciate the new Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017, it is necessary to note the considerable distance it has travelled from past paradigms of command and control that defined the relationship between the IIMs and their ‘owners’. It is yet to get through Rajya Sabha (Lok Sabha has already passed it), but there is no harm in hoping for the best. What’s more, this Bill is the best we have seen so far.

The relation between the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the IIMs has always been fraught with tension, skirmishes, acrimony and distrust. It has cut across the party lines and generations of HRD ministers. Over the years, the MHRD has, in principle, given powers to the IIM boards to supervise the institutions and then put in place a multitude of caveats to override it. This is where this Bill makes a giant leap forward.

The Bill proposes that the board should elect its chairman, as opposed to forwarding three names to MHRD for the selection. It also says the board can select its director. This is a huge and positive departure from the past, where three names were sent to the PMO for selection. The Bill also proposes to empower the board to take decisions on geographic expansion via campuses and satellite centres. Topping up faculty salaries (and incentivising them through non-government funds) is already possible.